You don't need a telescope or binoculars to see Mars as it moves in for its close-up. In fact, you'll probably be able to find it without a star chart or an astronomy app.

Longtime CNN iReporter Misael Rincon didn't think he'd be able to see Mars on Monday night in the Dominican Republic, but there was a small gap in the clouds around midnight, he said.

In the United States, the best time to look for Mars during its close approach will be around midnight Eastern time, according to NASA. It will be the brightest "star" that you'll see in the southeastern sky and it will appear a bit reddish.

To find out when Mars is visible in your neighborhood, you can go to timeanddate.com/astronomy and pop in your location. It will give a list of times that the sun, moon and planets rise and set.

After you have seen Mars shining bright in the morning sky, you may want to get an even better view. You can hook up with your local astronomy club to see Mars through a telescope.

If you miss this year's close approach, Earth and Mars will be even closer on July, 31 2018. They'll come about 35.8 million miles from each other.

Back in August 2003 they were closer still: The two planets were only 34,646,418 miles (55,758,006 kilometers) from center to center. That was the nearest Earth and Mars have been in almost 60,000 years, according to NASA.